Retaking PTs - score inflation

Julia L

Hey all!

I know the topic retaking PTs (and the value of that) has been discussed many times, but I just wanted to get a little more specific advice.

Like many others, I have exhausted all of the PTs, except for 72-74. There are some PTs that I have reviewed very extensively. Some PTs I have only taken once and may not have done a very thorough review. I think there is value in finding which ones I am less familiar with, and re-taking + BR. Right now my main focus is working through the Cambridge drilling packets, and really honing my fundamentals.

What can you glean from the score inflation of retakes? For example, I just took a PT and scored a 180, but I remembered the logical reasoning very clearly, so I don't take it seriously at all. RC and LG I did not remember as well. How about for a PT that I do not remember as well, what can I take away from the score?

I am just worried that for the questions I have reviewed a lot previously, I am remembering the right answer, and sure why it is the right answer in that instance. But I want to be extra sure that I am reinforcing the right reasoning skills and not just the right answers.

Thank you so much!
Julia

nicole.hopkins

It depends on a few things. If it's been many moons since a first take and if you didn't BR it, then methinks it's probably in the +/- scoreband of most fresh takes. For PT's you've taken more recently, more than twice, or super thoroughly BR'ed, then I think of it as as +5-7 point inflation most of the time.

c.janson35

I agree with everything that @nicole.hopkins said. Depending on how long ago you've taken a test, it may be almost as representative as a new one. There's times when I do retakes (like today) and think to myself, "Oh I sort of remember this question about the refrigerator" but have no idea what it's asking me to do and have no idea what form the correct answer takes. Sometimes there will be tests that I retake and as soon as a start reading the stimulus I know about where in the answer choices the right answer is and what it's going to say; with these I still try to articulate reasons why each answer is wrong while i'm taking the test, at the same time knowing that the score I get isn't going to be as important as the process of practicing.

nicole.hopkins

@c.janson35 is the man and the king of retakes. Real pro-tips here. In an ideal world we would have an infinite supply of recent PT's. In the real world, we do our best with what we have ... And it pays off. If @"Nilesh S" were around I would ask him to post that video of the 180 who did a ton of retakes. This is a skills test. Period.

ddakjiking

@nicole.hopkins said:
For PT's you've taken more recently, more than twice, or super thoroughly BR'ed, then I think of it as as +5-7 point inflation most of the time.

I think this is fairly accurate representation from my experience of being a retaker. I rarely remember specific LG and RC questions but maybe 1-2 per LR section. Once you take into account possibly remember a game set up or the RC passage content, that 5-7 point inflation becomes reasonable.

Julia L

@nicole.hopkins @c.janson35 @ddakjiking

thank you for your input! gotta keep focusing on the skills and not the score, as always but this is helpful to gauge how i could be scoring.

nicole.hopkins

@"Julia L" "Skills not Scores." Seriously considering a (temporary) tattoo with this inscription.

c.janson35

@nicole.hopkins put it right next to your "intellectually dauntless" tattoo!

Pacifico

your temporary tattoos should only consist of the entire conditional logic curriculum charted out on your forearms... anything else is a waste of ink...

nicole.hopkins

Skills not Scores will be on left/right hand, respectively so I can see them during test ... Intellectually dauntless will be right below my collarbone (so I'll wear a v-neck) ...